Francis Pacheco (1565-1626), a native of Portugal, was a missionary to China and Japan. On his third entrance into Japan made in disguise, Francis was captured by the Shogun’s many spies and put in a prison with other Jesuits, catechists, and lay people. Among them were some young men preparing to enter the Jesuits.  With martyrdom imminent, Pacheco allowed them to make their vows. In 1626, they all suffered martyrdom at Nagasaki. Francis was the most experienced of all the 33 Jesuits martyred in Japan during the great persecution between 1617 and 1626 when thousands of Japanese denied their faith while others gave their lives for it.  The laymen were executed last in the hopes that they would change their minds, but it only strengthened their resolve.

Fr Pacheco and his eight Jesuit companions, together with the nine Christians were included among the 205 martyrs beatified by Pope Pius IX on May 7, 1867.